"Some Japanese Samurai, during the Edo Period, randomly tested their swords by hacking up people of lower social station. The practice was called tsuji-giri. The clans combined to prohibit the practice through a law called Hyakkajou."

I'll bet you a dram of saki, Father Steve, that there has been no groundswell movement by the people of Japan to rescind the law of "Hyakkajou".

But, one day, who knows? It seems to me that all people, not just intact Japanese, are becoming odder.

Goodness gracious, Stuart--it only just now dawned on me that you are not, in fact, the personal friend I'd thought you were! My mind just made the leap, with me all unawares! Welcome aBoard! Neat thread!

From the posting: My guess is that de Boinod relied on an online Malay-English Dictionary that inaccurately translates gigi rongak as "gap between teeth."

As an aside, the reliance on sketchy online dictionaries and wordlists can yield unintentionally humorous results. Take, for instance, the Maserati Kubang. Unveiled in 2003, this "concept car" is supposedly named after "a wind over Java." (Maserati has a tradition of naming cars after exotic-sounding winds.) Close, but no cigar — the actual word is kumbang, not kubang. ... this got mangled on various websites listing winds of the world ..., and kumbang was changed to kubang. What does kubang mean in Indonesian? "Mudhole, mud puddle, quagmire." Probably not the image Maserati was going for! Sounds like this book could be a good companion to "English As She Is Spoke"!Thanks, zmjezhd.

Hey, tsuwm--didja read the first thing the guy from the Netherlands wrote about?

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